10 Things

I'm doing the 10 things you don't know about me deal. I feel like I've done it before but oh well - doing it again :)

1. I love cottage cheese. I'll usually have it for dessert at soup/salad buffet places.
2. I often have the urge to dye my hair light pink or lavender. Yes, yes....I know.
3. Sometimes there is nothing more inspirational than a rainy day. I flourish when it rains.
4. Am I the only one who doesn't care for Phil Collins songs?
5. Food isn't a lure for me. Saying there'll be cupcakes won't make me go someplace I don't want to go.
6. Given the choice, I will take a pencil over a pen every time.
7. I have a small collection of pocket knives and one of them is fairly valuable.
8. Young Bob Weir...omg...so hot. The old version, not so much. Don't dig the Kenny Rogers look.
9. I don't dream of having money. I dream of living a long happy life.
10. I don't usually answer my phone. But I will usually answer email.

Favorite

Turns out I watched the wrong half of the Super Bowl. It was so boring that I stopped watching after the lights went out. Sounds like it got a lot more interesting once the lights finally came back on. Oh well.

Commercials. It's the reason a lot of people watch. I picked my favorite from the first half - the Taco Bell commercial. I don't know how you can't love this one. Minute .33 and the end are pretty funny - but really I loved the whole thing. Minute .36 is pretty good, too. And minute .45....and minute 48. The whole thing!

Need A Pep Talk?

cleaning radishes

cleaning radishes
Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

sometimes unexpected beauty presents itself...in the form of radishes.

Just Talkin'

Ok, going to try to be better at updating my blog this year. Last year was a busy year and I'm hoping this year will slow down. I like a relaxed pace and last year wasn't. We'll see how this year goes.

People. The more I'm around them, the less I like them. I know that sounds terrible, but it's the sad truth. It's probably a personal issue because it's unlikely that everyone I've met is annoying. Greg, on the other hand, likes people. He's so damn friendly! He'll talk to anyone. He says hello and is genuinely nice to people. I admire that quality. But I'd love it if people would just let me shop without asking me 100 times if I need help or offer their opinions. Greg will have a conversation with them. Talk about the weather, the big game on TV....whatever. This is why he's perfect for me. He's my frontman. I know this makes me seem completely inept in the social game, but I'm not. I can be every bit the charming Libra if I have to be...I'd just rather not. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

Work. C.R.A.Z.Y. My work load has doubled over the last 9 months. I am consistently busy and rarely have a light day. I do network/IT stuff and if I do something wrong, it's not just "Oops, let me me get some whiteout and fix that"....it's "Ok sh** I just broke the campus mail server!!". Seriously, it's stressful. I need a vacation....for like a month.

Cards. I've been totally slacking. I'm going to try and be better but I don't know if I'll succeed here. Some sad things have happened in the past 6 months or so and unfortunately it's taking it's toll on my creative spirit. I sit at my desk and rather than feeling inspired, I feel overwhelmed so I go take a nap. My Valentine cards are designed, but I've only made one. I have zero desire to make more of them. I think if life and work slow down a bit, I'll get my chi back. Again, a long vacation would help. And it needs to be some place with those umbrella drinks that taste like pineapple. And there's a shady spot with a comfortable lounge chair...not all lounge chairs are comfortable. There's a nice breeze with the faint scent of coconut and the salty ocean. Slick green palm tree fronds glisten in the sun as they sway against a cloudless blue sky. The sound of the tide is like a favorite song you never tire of hearing. The biggest dilemma you have is which pair of shorts you'll wear to dinner. Ahhhh. A girl can dream.

I'll leave you with that :)

I want to see this movie

Game Show Amusement

To the sprinkling of readers I have....

Merry Christmas. Let your heart be light. May your troubles be miles away, if only for tonight. Tell your faithful friends and people who are dear to you how much they mean to you. And, if the fates allow, you'll gather together again next year. 

Most of all, may the spirit of Christmas stay with you all year long.

Holiday Craft - White Clay Ornaments

I saw the idea for these on Pintrest. The recipe I pinned was actually not very good so I had to find another one. I pieced together 3 different recipes and thankfully was able to salvage the mixture I started with because I barely had enough cornstarch to make it come together. Phew! The clay is really a dough....kind of. If you made salt dough ornaments back in the 70's, this is kind of like that. The difference is salt dough is a cookie color and this dough is white. And it will stay white after baking if you do things correctly. I'll get to that.

These are the ornaments I made...lightbulbs. I got the cutter many years ago from Gooseberry Patch. The dough rolled out nicely and was very smooth to the touch. I'm pleased with how good they turned out. Not hard to make at all. Note, this is a second batch of cutouts. I had enough dough to bake 2 cookie sheets full of ornaments.

The problem I ran into with the first batch was the thickness vs. cook time. None of the recipes I found addressed how long to bake them or how thick to roll them out to. I rolled the dough out to about 1/4 inch because I didn't want them to be to too delicate. After 1 hour in the oven, the tops where perfect but the bottoms were still slightly soft. I put them in for another hour and that helped a little but they didn't dry out completely. I took them out and let them cool and checked them an hour later. I still wasn't happy that the bottoms were just soft enough for me to leave an impression when I pressed the tip of my nail into it. I put them back in the oven and this is what happened:

They started to brown in the center and were no longer stark white. The extra time in the oven did dry them out completely, but I wasn't happy with the color change. The correct thing to do would have been to let them fully dry out in the oven during the first bake without letting them cool off. The key is, if your cutouts are 1/4 or more thick, it's going to take about 2 1/2 hours or more to bake.

There's good news in my case. The discoloration was mostly in the middle and I'd planned on decorating them so most of that would be covered. My test ornament is below. It looks pretty good for being the guinea pig! The surface was all messed up and lumpy but I'm the only one who knows how bad it looked prior to decorating it.

I used a product called Glossy Accents as glue. You don't have to use this, I think regular glue would work ok, too. Since it was my test ornament, I used some really old chunky glitter. I didn't think this test ornament would be something I'd keep, but I think I'll put it on my tree!

White Clay Dough

1 cup cornstarch

2 cups baking soda

1 1/4 cup water

Heat oven to 175 degrees.

Combine ingredients in large sauce pan and stir until dough is thick and can no longer be stirred (takes 5-10 minutes). Dump onto parchment paper and cool completely. I left mine on the counter but you can also put it in the fridge to speed up the cooling.

Knead until smooth and roll out to desired thickness. Cut shapes out with cookie cutters.

Bake for 1 hour and check to see if they are completely dried out. If not, continue to bake at 30 minute increments until they are dry. Mine were 1/4 inch thick and it took them about 2 1/2 hours to dry out completely in the oven. Letting them cool and then putting them back in the oven will result in discoloration.

My Life As A Musical

The last time I did this was in 2010.  I answer questions with songs titles from my iTunes list.

Are you female or male:
My Maria - B.W. Stevenson


Describe yourself:
Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls


How do some people feel about you: 
Look What You've Done - Jet

How do you feel about yourself: 

F**kin' Perfect - Pink (chuckles)

Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: 

Shattered - OAR

Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend:

Superman - Five For Fighting

Describe where you want to be: 

Rocky Mountain High - John Denver

Describe what you want to be: 

Be Yourself - Audioslave

Describe how you live: 

Never Gonna Leave This Bed - Maroon 5

Describe how you love: 

Talk Dirty to Me - Poison

Share a few words of wisdom: 

Make A Memory - Bon Jovi

Laugh for the day.